


mother of my son's girlfriend

by violetshour



Category: Dark (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Sequel, Social Anxiety, but again just pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:07:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26863390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violetshour/pseuds/violetshour
Summary: Sequel to "our son & their daughter“.A few weeks have passed, since Regina & Katharina spent some hours in a bathroom, during the garden party. Bartosz & Martha are still a thing - so Regina is forced to overcome her differences with the Nielsens again. But this time Katharina actually tries to befriend with her...Regina isn't so happy with that.slightly au, a few weeks in summer before season one.
Relationships: Aleksander Tiedemann | Boris Niewald/Regina Tiedemann, Martha Nielsen/Bartosz Tiedemann
Comments: 36
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> at first I thought about this as a collection of deleted scenes, buuuut my mind ran wild & with the everlasting support & creative input of my lovely fav fanfic-author-collegue peaches_n_roses <3, it's a little sort of sequel now – I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Dark. All rights belong to the wonderful & extraordinaire Baran Bo Odar, Jantje Friese & Netflix. I don't make any money with this fanfiction.

> _If I had a time machine_  
>  And if life was a movie scene  
>  I'd rewind and I'd tell me, "run!"
> 
> \- Ingrid Michaelson, _Time Machine_
> 
> * * *

How long were you actually allowed to leave someone _on read_ , before it got rude?

Or more specific how long _could she_ ignore the messages _Martha's mom_ wrote her,

until she had to - at least - _pretend_ to have read them?

_I am a busy woman_ , Regina thought.

Katharina could phone her in her office, if it was an urgent matter.

 _Oh god_ , she thought, _she actually could._

_Would she?_

Regina had tried her best to keep a certain distance.

Then, however they had spent a few nights in a row in front of the _Waldhotel_ homepage.

Well, Regina's web presence was flawless now and Katharina had been an essential help.

The chat with _Martha's mom_ now being one of her most frequently used, was a strangely outgrowth of it...

Her finger hoovered above the notification.

“Not now,” she told herself, “I am a busy woman!”

But looking around in her clean kitchen, showed her, that she had as a matter of fact nothing to do.

It was a sunday afternoon.

She buried her phone under the newspapers, her husband and her had read during breakfast, and left the kitchen.

_Sorry, I misplaced my phone over the whole weekend,_

she constructed the flimsy excuse in her head

“No, I couldn't hear it, it was on silent,” she muttered to herself.

“Did you say something?” Aleksander asked, as she passed the open door of the room he used as a kind of office.

“I talked to myself”

“Are you bored?”

“I had an existential crisis, I am exhausted.”

He got up and leaned against the door frame.

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

“It's silly,” she looked at her fingers.

She had repainted her nails, as Katharina's purple had faded.

She liked it, it made her feel cheery and the contrast reminded her of the 80's.

Also she recently grew to love crashing the uptight image people seemed to have of her.

Martha's surprised look had been priceless, the first time she had found out,

that _posh Frau Tiedemann_ , now wore fancy nail polish, which somehow reminded her of the one her own mother had used to wear, too...

Aleksander approached her.

He gently put his hand into her hair and leaned in to kiss her.

“Still silly?” he asked.

Regina smiled lovingly and nodded.

He kissed her again, his lips lingered longer and his hands wandered deeper, messing up her waves.

“How about now?”

“Just one more time.”

He granted her the wish. She closed her eyes and felt herself blushing,

Aleksander stroked with his thumbs over the rosy skin of her cheeks.

“Do you think I'm ungrateful?” she asked and he promptly shook his head.

“Katharina got very friendly towards me, recently,” she tried to explain, as she noticed his confused look.

“She sents a lot of messages. Very nice ones, but I just can't bear it, somehow,” she signed.

Aleksander took her hand and pulled her into the room behind them.

They sat down on the small couch.

She remembered the days, when Aleksander used to work a lot from home, so he could spent more time with his young son.

Bartosz was convinced, that he helped his father with his business tasks, by playing at his side with his lego sets.

Also he tended to fall asleep on the floor, so they bought the couch for him.

These where the good days, when the Nielsens were never mentioned in their household,

when there were no girlfriends – only the three of them.

The little family.

The times when Bartosz had watched _Star Wars_ with Aleksander for the first time.

Then he had made hand-crafted _lightsabers_ with Regina.

His eyes had grown huge with fascination and admiration, as his mother had told him about her fencing classes.

“My mama is a _jedi_!” he had screamed in awe.

And now, Katharina over-flooded her phone with messages and Bartosz spent most of his time at the Nielsen's house with Martha.

“I feel like, I am betraying my younger self. I had to endure so much because of Katharina...”

Aleksander intertwined his fingers with hers.

“One damn garden party, me holding her hair and everything is fine?” she shook her head,

“It doesn't feel right to me. I don't need her in my life.”

“It sounds reasonable to me,” her husband told her.

Regina looked at him.

“My problem is, I think she needs someone now. But I don't want to be that kind of friend-person to her,”

for a moment, she collected her thoughts.

“She only does this, because she is bored and misses Hannah and tries to replace her with me!”

Regina got up on her feet.

“Are you knowing this or are you asking me?” Aleksander asked her.

She laughed dryly, “What do you think?”

“I guess,” he replied vaguely.

Regina shook her head at him, but couldn't resist to smile.

“You _guess_? Aleksander – I know, it's true!”

In the beginning of Martha's and Bartosz's relationship,

Regina often had wished for her son to return home and telling her that they had split up –

of course, it made her feel like a very bad mother, but she couldn't help herself from doing so.

But now, she had grew rather fondly of Martha's occasionally presence in their lives.

Meanwhile it wasn't that much of a riddle to her any more, why her son had fallen in love with the clever and endearing girl.

She now didn't wanted Martha's heart to get broken.

 _Wow_ , she thought, _what a wonderful human being you are, Regina_.

“I'm in too deep,” she had said to Aleksander, while she had caught herself marking Martha's birthday in her calenders.

She still was the daughter of the people, who she couldn't stand the most... or so she had thought.

Her feelings confused her.

A weekend ago, Martha even had helped voluntarily with the renovations at the hotel.

The opening was close, but a lot of preparations still needed to be made.

She just was in the foyer, when she heard a loud shattering sound which caused her a shiver.

Following Bartosz and Martha's giggles,

she went outside in the backyard and saw how they threw some of the old window frames into one of the huge dumpsters.

The remaining glass burst inside of it.

“This is amazing!” Martha shouted over the sound, “So cool, sort of liberating!”

“Yes!” Bartosz agreed with her.

“What are you doing?” she yelled from the backdoor.

“Mama, look!”

He and Martha threw another object over the barrier and the shattering of thousands of pieces echoed from the walls.

“See! Thanks for allowing us to actually destroying things!” her son laughed.

“I'm glad you have fun, but please don't come up with the idea of trying this at home!”

Regina wasn't happy with how she acted towards Katharina.

Was it right to hold a grudge for so long?

Katharina had helped her with a problem, while she was dealing with her own...

The whole matter became much more complicated,

as Regina found out, that she was absolutely not able to act like a sane person around Katharina any longer.

The parameters of their relationship had switched way too fast from

“ _Don't get your hopes up, Tiedemann_ ” to “ _How are you, Regina? Let's go grab some coffee and bitch about life!_ ”

As Regina spotted Katharina in the grocery store, she scolded herself.

Why she hadn't thought about driving out of town?

_Just for grocery shopping? Are you daft?_

The voice in her head sounded a lot like Claudia's.

What would her mother think of her,

now that her daughter did everything to put her bags into her car secretly,

in an attempt to vanished as fast as possible from the parking lot.

She was almost sure, that she succeeded with her plan,

as she saw how Katharina moved towards her.

For once in her life she wished for a less extraordinary car.

Without thinking twice, she crouched down behind her car.

“What are you doing there?” Katharina asked her.

Regina didn't look at her, she felt the heat on her face.

“I... lost my... contact lens” she replied lamely.

“Oh, do you need help,” Katharina immediately got down to her.

“No, no,” Regina got up, “Because I don't need some, actually.”

“What?”

“I – never mind. How are you?” she leaned against her car for support.

“Okay. Have you read my messages?”

_Damn it._

“Eh no. I mean, yes. My battery is low, can't find my charger.”

“Are you sure, you are okay?” Katharina raised her eyebrows.

“Can I call you later, I'm in such a hurry,” Regina smiled brightly at her.

“Of course,”

“Bye,” Regina opened the door and was about to get in, as

“Tiedemann?”

“Mmh?”

“Nice to see you.”

Regina only smiled weakly.

As Katharina was out of sight, she put her head on her steering wheel.

 _Congratulations_ , she thought, _you are winning an award for the most awkward conversation avoiding attempt ever._

On her way home, she called Aleksander.

“I am stupid,” she greeted him.

“I know, you are not,” he said.

“Get the divorce papers ready, your wife really got herself in trouble!”

She briefly told him what she had told Katharina.

He laughed very loud.

“Could you please stop laughing at me,” she tried her best to sound hurt.

“I'm laughing with you. Oh Regina – contact lenses, really?”

His laugh roared through the speakers of her car.

“I shouldn't have told you,” Regina giggled.

“I love you so much,” Aleksander told her seriously, but she could picture his wide smile.

“I'm hanging up now,” she said.

As he came home later that evening, he brought a bunch of flowers with him.

They stood next to each other in the kitchen, while she opened the card he had put along the petals.

“Thank you for making me laugh”, she read out loud and rolled her eyes at him.

She threw the card over her shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dear night owls & early birds, here's a Tiedemann homestory chapter for you <3

> _Sit back and enjoy your problems_
> 
> _You don’t always have to solve them_
> 
> _'Cause your worst days, they are over_
> 
> _So enjoy your life_
> 
> _Yeah, you might as well accept it_
> 
> _Don't you waste your time regretting_
> 
> – MARINA, Enjoy Your Life

* * *

“Mama, it's an emergency!”

“Bartosz, I get it, but I feel very uncomfortable –“

“Come on, you and Papa –“

“We never slept together in one bed, until we were engaged,” she said.

It was a lie.

Aleksander and her had been far from virtuous, when they had been in the beginning of their relationship.

But their engagement had came so fast, that there wasn't actually _that_ much time in between.

Also her nightmares had gotten so much more bearable, from the moment on he had stayed at her side during the night.

“I need another blanket," Bartosz interrupted her thoughts.

“Martha can have mine, I actually don't need it anyway,” Regina said.

She went into Aleksander's and her bedroom.

While she got a fresh cover for the blanket out of the wardrobe, her son leaned against the door frame.

“So you and Papa are sharing one blanket?” he asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” his mother answered, “Is something wrong with that?”

Bartosz shook his head,

“It's just very annoying, how much harmony the two of you have.

Sharing one blanket – tzzz, as if one of you isn't ending up freezing to death every night.”

“Be jealous. Here,” she threw the blanket over to him.

“Thanks,” he said and turned to leave.

“Hey!” she stopped him, “You're sleeping on the floor. Don't you dare to close the door,”

Bartosz rolled his eyes at her.

“And for the protocol: I never agreed. You emotionally blackmailed me into this.”

“What are you afraid of?” he asked.

“Babies with Katharina Nielsen's genes,” Regina answered truthfully.

This made Bartosz laugh.

She was sure, her mother wouldn't had battered an eye and let her sleep with her boyfriend in one bed.

“Go on, ruin your life. Perhaps he's going to marry you.”

Was it Regina's fault, that she imagined her mother's voice always being mean to her these days?

She never even dared using the same snidely tone towards her own child.

“Do you have any clothes to change?” Regina asked Martha during dinner.

Martha shook her head.

“She can take one of my shirts,” Bartosz said eagerly.

“Tell me if you need something,” Regina continued and winked at her,

“I can give you clothes for school tomorrow.”

Martha smiled and nodded shyly.

They heard the door opening.

Regina got up and went in the hallway to greet Aleksander. He was about to hang up his coat.

“Martha is staying overnight” she told him in a hushed voice.

“Good evening, Regina – _darling_ ,” he said and put emphasis on the last word.

His wife snarled at the nickname.

“This is serious.”

He gave her a peck on the lips, “We can handle seriousness.”

Together they went in the kitchen.

Aleksander greeted Martha and Bartosz, before he sat down.

“How was school?” he asked the two teenagers.

He always had been much better in small talk than her.

She was relieved now that he politely carried on a casually conversation about Martha's new theatre play.

She felt her anxiety fading, until it was only a faint tingling in her belly.

His presence was enough to calm the storms of uncertainty within her.

“Greek drama always fascinated me,” he said,

“The big things happen hidden from the eyes of the audience, but what goes around, comes around.

In the end everything makes sense and it's way more tragic, than it already seemed to be.”

“You just described Winden,” Bartosz said and Regina laughed loud.

“Come on,” she said, as she calmed down, “Am I the only one who thinks this is funny?”

“Your sense of humor is rotten, Mama,” Bartosz said.

Aleksander laughed.

“Boys, I'll keep that in mind,” she said grumpy.

“You had it coming, Papa,” Bartosz nodded to Aleksander, who shrugged his shoulders.

“She never got my intellect.”

“Your _intellect_ ” Regina put down her fork and knife.

“Let me tell you a story, children – when we were dating –”

“Hundred years ago,” Bartosz interrupted her.

“They dated when you actually died from sleeping in one bed together, without being engaged or married,”

he told Martha and Regina threw her napkin in his direction.

“Whatever – I used to read _Gespenster_ in school. Do you know it, Martha?”

The girl nodded acknowledging, “Henrik Ibsen.”

“Exactly!” Regina beamed at her.

“I analyzed the whole book. I told Mr. Intellect,” she nodded towards her husband,

“all my theories. I wanted to impress him so badly. But, _guess_ what, he only answered with a vaguely _I guess_!”

“Fail, Papa,” Bartosz giggled.

“Back then, I already knew, you were the smartest one in town,” he leaned over, “You still are,” he whispered and kissed her.

Regina heard a chair scratching over the floor, she looked up.

“Martha, are you okay?”

The girl shook her head

“I'm sorry,” she rushed out of the dining-room.

  
Bartosz immediately got up as well “I'll check on her.”

Regina looked over to Martha's plate.

The girl hadn't touched her food and she had been very silent during the whole evening.

A few minutes passed and Bartosz returned.

“She's in the garden, on the porch. She says, she needs some time on her own,”

he sat down, a bummed out look on his face.

Aleksander smiled at him in sympathy.

“Excuse me, why is she staying here tonight?” he asked.

“Her parents fight a lot. Her father has an affair. She thinks they gonna get a divorce and it cracks her up,”

Bartosz said and pushed his plate away from him. He was very down.

Regina and Aleksander exchanged glances.

“You guys being so happy with each other,”

Bartosz continued, without looking at his parents, “I think it got her sad.”

Regina nodded sorrowfully, “Poor dear...”

“I mean” Bartosz shrugged his shoulders,

“None of this is your fault,” he caught his mother's look and tried to smile at her,

“I'm very lucky to have you and your...” he struggled with the words “insanely working marriage,” he blushed.

Aleksander reached over the tabletop and squeezed his son's shoulder.

“She's lucky to have you.”

“I try,” Bartosz once again avoided his parents glances.

“Sometimes she doesn't want my help,” he said hesitantly.

“For most of the time, the knowledge that there's someone who's got your back, no matter what, means so much more, Bartosz.”

Aleksander said and Regina was moved by his words. She took his hand in hers.

As their dinner was finished, Regina got up and prepared a cup of tea, while her husband and son did the dishes.

She went outside on the wooden porch, which surrounded the main floor.

Martha sat there, her head leaned against the banister.

Regina handed her the steaming cup.

The darkness of the night was about to set in, but a few moments of the sunset were still happening.

Regina sat down next to her.

“I love these colors,” Regina said and looked at the horizon.

“Yes, beautiful,” Martha sniveled.

“I'm sorry for being rude,” she said.

“No need to apologize,” Regina reassured her, “Sometimes you just want to run away, it's okay.”

They stayed in silence.

“Thank you, for allowing me to sleep here. But please, don't tell them. They don't care. They only fight,” she said stressed.

“What about your siblings?” Regina asked, but Martha only shrugged her shoulders.

“It's only for a night, please Frau Tiedemann.”

“You should start calling me Regina.

I feel old, when people call me by my mother's name. Frau Tiedemann, ugh,” she grimaced.

Martha giggled a little.

“But text your mom.” Regina said determined.

“I mean it – that's not an option. She needs to know where you are.”

Martha hung her head in disappointment.

“If you were my daughter,”

Regina briefly nudged her shoulder against Martha's in an encouraging manner,

“I would want to know, where you sleep.”

“I want to be like your mom when I grow up,” Martha said later.

Bartosz raised his eyebrows.

“She almost got a panic attack thinking about me getting you pregnant.”

“Well, your mom and me have something in common,” she rolled her eyes.

“She told me to sleep on the floor,” Bartosz complained.

“I'll thank her for making sure, I get enough space.”

Bartosz threw a pillow at her.

Regina checked her phone before she went to her bedroom.

_So Martha is at your house tonight?_ Katharina had messaged her.

_Yes._ she typed back

_They are not sharing a bed aren't they?_

Regina rolled her eyes. What was Katharina thinking of her?

_Don't worry, already made sure nobody get's pregnant tonight._

_I rely heavily on your special birth control, Tiedemann._

After a few seconds she received another message:

_Thank you, for letting her stay. She's having a tough time._

Regina hesitated – she wasn't as good at comforting, as Aleksander.

She lacked of words and actually she was a little bit angry at Katharina,

because Martha seemed to have a _tough time_ only because of her parent's quarrels.

But she replied:

_Everything is alright._

She put down her phone and looked over to Aleksander.

He sat on the bed and she walked towards him.

She leaned against him. His arms encircling her back.

“Bartosz's and your good, solid conversations,” she lovingly stroked through his hair,

“Tonight it was very true.” 

He looked up to her and smiled,

“Thank you. You're not getting tickled for that.”

“Pity,” she said and bit her underlip to stop herself from giggling,

as his warm hands found his way under her blouse nevertheless.

Aleksander noticed only in the morning, that one blanket had been missing the whole night.

He wrapped the one they had shared, completely around his still sleeping wife and got up.

He often woke up early.

He used the time on his own, with getting ready or preparing coffee and breakfast or he checked some mails in his office.

Usually no one but him was up at this time, but they had a guest, who seemed to deal with slight insomnia as well.

“Why are you up?” he greeted Martha.

She was wearing one of Regina's old band tees.

His wife had a big collection from the time in her twenties, when they used to visit a lot of concerts together.

“The things you said about greek tragedies, yesterday –

I feel like my whole life is like what you described.

Everybody has secrets and in the end, it destroys everything, what you thought would be real.”

Aleksander was about to scream for his wife.

He was sure, she would know how to handle this situation best.

He remembered a day, when Bartosz had been a little child and his mind had been full of questions about life.

“Is it bad to have secrets?” his son had asked him.

Aleksander hadn't been able to come up with an answer.

The existential question on the matter of lies had put a lot of pressure on him.

Regina, like always, had recognized his struggle and had come to his aid.

“No, Bartosz. Having secrets is not a bad thing,” she had said.

“But when you have a secret,” she had looked in her husband's eyes,

“and you feel bad about it, you should consider telling someone.”

“Your parent's never intended hurting you by having secrets,” Aleksander said to Martha, after a moment of silence.

The girl's eyes were fixated on him.

“I know, this won't help you, but let me tell you: Parents are people, too. Don't be too hard on them.”

Ulrich's daughter sighed, “I just hoped for the grown-ups to have more plan of this world, somehow...”

“One day, you will become a grown-up with a plan for this world.”

“Thank you,”

“Go back to bed, Martha,” he smiled at her.

“You have over an hour, before it's even time for getting up.”

Martha nooded.

“Have a good day,” she said as she left the kitchen.

“You, too – but for now rest.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have a good time reading this little chapter <3

> _Once I had a love and it was a gas_
> 
> _Soon turned out to be a pain in the ass_
> 
> _Seemed like the real thing only to find_
> 
> _Much o' mistrust, love's gone behind_
> 
> \- Blondie, _Heart of Glass_

* * *

“What's for dinner?” her son's voice croaked out of her phone.

She had to listen, to the two seconds voice message, a few times in a row, until she understood what he had said.

_You really needed to ask me this in a voice message?_

she typed.

„Mama, try audios, too,“ her son's voice complained via another one.

_So you can ignore my voice in the real AND the digital world?_

she replied.

_No, thank you. It's a matter of principle._

She had thought other mothers might would share this notion with her.

But Katharina telling her about her day and the things she wanted to do, for over three minutes, put her right about the misinformation.

She reacted to these audios like she reacted to Katharina's other messages – not at all.

Then one night, Katharina got her a message she couldn't ignore.

“You are a sight for sore eyes,” Aleksander greeted her in the hallway, when he arrived after midnight.

Late board meetings kept him away from home these days.

“Oh don't be ridiculous,” Regina told him and tugged at the old band tee, she wore as her sleepwear.

“It brings back memories,” he smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“I almost forgot they existed,” she confessed,

“but when Martha needed clothes, they came to my mind again,” she put one warm hand on his chest and he kissed her hair.

“There was so much trouble at work today,” he sighed, “Please tell me what's on your mind.”

“Really?”

“Now it's you who's being ridiculous – of course, I want to know.”

She wriggled herself out of his attempt to tickle her sides again and took one of his hand.

“Today, I've come to the conclusion, that I am lucky,” she said as they walked into their bedroom.

Aleksander tilted his head, “That's really something. Wait –”

he laughed, the confusion in his voice was unmistakable.

“Is this about Katharina Nielsen again?”

She hesitantly nodded.

He laughed further and pulled her with him on the bed,

“Please go on.”

She cupped her chin with her hand and Aleksander put his head next to her elbow.

Some of her hair lightly touched his face.

“I have you,” Regina continued and gently caressed the fine lines on his forehead.

“And we have Bartosz, and I have the hotel,” she smiled self-satisfied.

“Everything is enough. No need to add anything. I wouldn't change a thing.”

Aleksander sat up and took her face in his hands.

“I love you,” he said and covered her skin with kisses.

Regina chuckled, “I love you, too,” she replied.

He caught the look in her eyes.

“There's more, Regina, isn't it?”

She groaned and let herself fall back on the mattress.

“I sometimes annoy myself as much, as the Nielsens annoy me.”

Aleksander laid next to her again, “Don't be so hard on yourself.”

Regina put her hands over her eyes.

“I am afraid, that letting her into my life again, will mess everything up,” she said.

“Let me promise you, I wouldn't let it happen.”

Regina turned to him and put her head against his shoulder.

“We are very good in protecting,” he added and ran his fingers in circles over her back,

“and we will keep your happiness up. You're holding everything together.”

“I couldn't do it without you,” she said, her words slightly muffled.

“You don't have to,” he smiled.

“What a team we make,” she yawned.

“A good, solid one,” he said.

Regina only nodded, he felt how her body relaxed and her breathing slowed down.

She dozed off and Aleksander tightened his hold around her.

After a while, Regina heard his voice.

She slowly opened her eyes. She must have fallen asleep.

“Did you say something?” she murmured and snuggled against him.

“Is this your phone?” he asked again.

She raised her head from Aleksander's shoulder.

She heard it, too. Her ringtone.

“I left it in the kitchen,” she got up. “But who's calling me at this hour?”

She prayed that it had nothing to do with her hotel.

Still drowsy with sleep, she found her phone, hidden under a few newspapers, on top of one of the kitchen counters.

It displayed _Martha's mom_.

Ugh, no.

_She can't be serious_ , Regina thought.

_Maybe it's something with Martha?_

Bartosz was safe and sound in his room, probably playing video games until the early morning.

Martha had rode home with her bike hours ago -

Regina got on the phone.

“Hey,” Katharina's voice sounded a little way off.

“What's up?” Regina asked and pressed the phone against her ear to understand her better.

“CAN YOU PICK ME UP?” Katharina shouted into her ear, so loud it hurt.

“Where are you?”

“I don't know,” Katharina giggled.

“Are you drunk?”

“I do not think so, but I can't drive – please take me home,” she slurred.

She was drunk, no doubts.

_Oh no_.

“Katharina...” Regina said lamely.

“Thank you! See you”

“Wait –” but the line was cut.

Regina stared at her phone. What should she do?

Before she got the time to make up her mind, she received a message.

The current location of Katharina. She actually wasn't far away.

She thought about Martha. _Ugh, not fair._

“Is everything alright?” Aleksander asked behind her.

She shook her head, “Katharina Nielsen is very drunk and wants me to pick her up.”

“You're joking” Aleksander said.

Regina shook her head.

She ran her hands restlessly through her hair.

“Aleksander, you need to take me away, now,” she pleaded, “Please let us leave - we can start anew.”

“How about a new phone number?” he suggested with a little smile.

“It's not that easy,” she sighed and went to the hallway.

“I need her number to contact her - about Bartosz whereabouts, remember?”

“You are a good friend,” he said with a shrug.

“I am not her friend,” she put on her boots over her leggings.

“Well, then a good neighbor?”

“Aleksander, what is the use of building a house _as far as possible_ from the others, as not avoiding the need of being a neighbor,” she grimaced.

He walked towards her and helped her into her coat.

“I'll wait for you, drive carefully,” he kissed her cheek.

She only nodded, took her keys and left.

She picked her up near the woods by the roadside.

“Hellooo!” Katharina greeted her, way too loud.

“If you feel sick, tell me immediately,” Regina said through gritted teeth.

She didn't wanted her to puke all over her precious interior.

“Your car is fancy,” Katharina said, looking at her surroundings with wide eyes.

“So shiny...”

“Thank you,” Regina replied dryly.

“Where are your curls?” she promptly asked.

“What?”

“Your hair,” Katharina grabbed on a straightly strand,

“Au - stop it!,” Regina shook off her hand.

“It was soo big once,” the other woman giggled, “I actually envied you.”

“Well, that's a relief!” Regina's knuckles turned white from grabbing thightly on the steering wheel.

She was on the edge already. _What the hell am I doing here?_

“You went to one of their concerts?” Katharina poked at the logo on Regina's chest.

“Twice.”

“Wow,” Katharina said impressed.

For a few seconds she was silent and lied her head against window.

“I don't want to go home,” she sighed.

Regina tried to ignore her and drove further into the night, not changing the route.

“My husband cheats on me with my best friend,” she whined.

“Do you think it will get better, if you drink too much?” she asked sternly.

“Stop judging me!” Katharina hissed.

“Sorry.”

“You're not”

“You can count on me," Regina said sarcastically and speed up the car.

She couldn't wait to get over with this.

“What would you do?”

Regina tried to concentrate on the road.

“TIEDEMANN, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?”

“Will you kindly stop screaming in my ear?” Regina told Katharina.

She mumbled something Regina couldn't understand.

“Perhaps you should try a marriage therapist,” Regina couldn't bit back the suggestion.

“Tell me what you would do!” Katharina repeated her words angrily.

Regina ran out of patience.

“My husband is faithful. I happen to have no best friend – in conclusion, I can't relate,” she spat out.

“You have me! I am your best friend!” Katharina crossed her arms and pouted.

Regina had to laugh.

“You do _believe_ that?”

“YES, me and Reginaaaa Tiedemann. Best friends for ever and –“

“I will need a drink to forget you said those words.”

Katharina giggled again.

“You are too funny.”

“I am not.”

“and you always need to have the last say,” Katharina said with a big smile on her face.

Regina opened her mouth, then bit on her tongue to stop herself. _Damn it._

“I don't care, Katharina,” she said honestly.

She felt her glance, but she just parked the car in front of the Nielsen's house.

“I'm sorry, that I am such a bad person,” Katharina said a little gutted.

Regina choose not to reply. She removed her seatbelt and got out of the car.

She opened the passenger door.

“Give me your keys,” she held out her hand and Katharina handed them over.

“Now get out.”

She supported herself by wrapping an arm around Regina's shoulders.

“You do care, even if you don't want to,” Katharina whispered in her ear.

Regina opened the door wordlessly and helped her over the threshold.

“You are a good person,” Katharina tapped her index finger on the tip of Regina's nose.

Regina sighed and shook her head.

“Go to bed,” she closed the door behind her and went back to her car.

_Open one of the wines for me_ she texted Aleksander.

_The expensive one?_ he replied.

What a question, none of the bottles in their cellar could actually be considered cheap.

_Yes, please._


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I smiled a lot while writing this. I hope you laugh along with our favorite characters :)  
> The first scene was actually not included in my draft, I wrote it because peaches_n_roses encouraged me to - so kudos to her & her mind & her supporting/inspiring me 24/7 <3

> _Runnin', runnin', runnin' for my life_
> 
> _I'm playin' hide and seek with the light_
> 
> _Sorry you had to see me like that_
> 
> _Glad I saw this place, now I know I'm never coming back_
> 
> – MisterWives, _rock bottom_

* * *

“ _Guess_ what happened,” Regina said, as she went inside their home and kicked her boots away,

just to collect and put them neatly mere seconds afterwards.

“A lot?” Aleksander asked.

The way he leaned against the wall, with his arms crossed; the lovely lopsided grin on his lips,

which she adored; reminded her of the young man, she had met all those years ago.

He never ceased to amaze her.

She nodded and started to tell him,

“She acted like a little girl – she pulled at my hair, she giggled, she cried, she touched everything –”

Regina threw her hands up in the air,

“There are fingerprints all over the surfaces now!” she hissed, her eyes wide, a flush of anger crept up her neck.

“Mmh,” Aleksander tried to hide his lips with one of his hands.

“Did you just smirk?” his wife asked flabbergasted, while she got out of her coat.

“I wouldn't dream of it.”

“Aleksander, why are you turning your back on me? Are you laughing at me?”

“No, I – ” he turned around again.

His whole face was lit up and the smile reached his eyes.

“Yes, Regina – it's just very funny!”

Regina took a deep breath and hung up her coat.

“You're right,” the corners of her mouth twitched,

“it is _actually_ kind of funny,” she moved towards her husband.

“She yelled at me, she made compliments... She was actually a _nice_ drunk person,” Regina admitted.

He enfolded her into his arms.

“But now my ears ache,” she complained and held a hand against the right side of her head.

“You definitively worked hard for the wine,” Aleksander kissed her forehead.

Regina wrapped her arms around his middle.

“When you're saying my name, are you sometimes adding a's too it?” Regina asked him.

“Excuse me?”

“I mean: Regin _aaa_. Katharin _aaa_ did this and it sounded weird.”

“I sometimes feel like you're adding extra _rrr_ 's to _my_ name.”

“Aleksande _rrr_?”

“Exactly!”

“I am a really annoying wife, am I?” she leaned heavily against his side.

“I won't joke about that,” he said, but she heard in his voice, that he was still smiling.

He stroked through her hair.

“I'm sorry for keeping you up all night,” she kissed his shoulder.

His fingers gently lifted her chin, so she was able to look into his eyes,

“Don't worry about it,” he reassured her.

Aleksander put his hand on her waist and lead her out onto the porch.

The garden was dimmed in the darkness of the night.

Many lit candles illuminated the wooden boards in a warm welcoming light.

Two glasses along with one bottle of wine and a folded blanket laid in front of them.

“Aleksande _rrr_!” Regina beamed at him, her arms still embraced his body.

As they sat down, he took the blanket and wrapped it over both of their shoulders.

Regina filled their glasses from the already open bottle.

She handed one over to Aleksander, clinked hers against his and drank the red liquid in one go.

“Wow – so much for the pleasurable experience,” Aleksander laughed.

“I'm about to drink it straight from the bottle,” his wife told him provokingly.

“Do what you want,” he swirled the wine in his glass, “It's yours anyway,” he added and grinned at her mischievously.

“You can't be serious,” she turned the bottle in her hand and looked at the label.

“Oh damn it! This is really the one you gifted me from the conference in Switzerland!”

“I'm going there again, soon. I'll get you a new one.”

Without thinking too much, Regina took a pull from the bottle.

“I bet this is Katharina's influence,” she said grim-faced.

“Well, in my opinion the side of you, who likes to sit on the porch on a cold summer night,

drinking luxurious wine right from the bottle, existed even before the Nielsen's got into our life,” he told her proudly.

“The road to hell is paved with _compliments_ , Aleksander,”

but she kissed him thankfully on the cheek and the remains of wine on her lips left marks on his skin.

They nestled against one another.

The sky above them was clear and dotted with tiny spots of light.

“She asked me what I would do,” Regina said, “If something like this would happen to us.”

“What was your answer?” he looked interested at her.

“Wouldn't you like to know?” she teased.

She stroked thoughtfully with her thumb over the label of the wine bottle.

Then she put it aside and turned herself towards him completely,

“I waste a lot of time overthinking stuff. But your faithfulness seems to be the only thing, which I will never doubt,”

she smiled serenely.

“I never take anything for granted, except your loyalty towards me. I just know.

It's the only truth, I rely on.”

He put his glass aside and took her hand in both of his.

“I only exist, because of you,” he traced his fingers over the skin on her underarms and hold her gaze.

“You saved my life. You taught me to trust again. My feelings for you were never in doubt.”

The wine and the blanket over her body made her feel warm, but his words caused goosebumps on her skin.

“You are everything and I love you,” Aleksander said sincerely.

She felt tears forming in her eyes.

He couldn't help himself, so he added, “Regin _aaa,_ ” and she laughed.

Two single tears rolled down her cheeks.

He took her other hand, to stop her from wiping her eyes and kissed her knuckles.

“Let it out,” he whispered.

She leaned her forehead against his and sobbed softly.

He tenderly caressed the sides of her face.

"I love you, too,” she replied breathlessly.

He reached out and engulfed her in his arms.

For her, there was no better place in the world.

Regina couldn't imagine a more wonderful sensation,

than being wrapped in Aleksander's embrace, on their porch, underneath a starry night sky.

“Sometimes I think my girlfriend loves you more than me,”

Bartosz told her in the morning, after the incident with drunk _Martha's mom_.

Regina raised her brows at him.

She shook her head at her son in disbelief.

“For real – the amount of time she takes to tell me how lucky I am to have _you_ as mom.”

“Aha, listen to this!” Aleksander said, as he walked into the kitchen.

Bartosz imitated Martha's voice,

“Uhh your mother is so strong and independent and she wears band tees and nail polish and outside your home,

she has this cold-as-ice attitude and those amazing dresses and skirts and the roll of her eyes is so sharp it rips everybody's self-confidence apart!”

Regina choked on her coffee.

Aleksander lightly patted her on the back.

“Martha is such a sweetheart!” Regina said in awe.

“And she's so smart. _The rool of her eyes so sharp it rips apart_ what an accurate description.”

Aleksander said and Reginas eyes gleamed.

“Beautiful,” Aleksander kissed her temple, “I am in favour,” he said.

Regina stroked his clean-shaven cheek affectionately.

“Yep, then there's you two,” Bartosz said, cleared his throat and continued in Martha's voice,

“It's so amazing, how loving your parents are with one another. What is their secret? bla bla –”

“A bit more respect towards the girl, son.” Aleksander told him, but he couldn't keep his face straight.

“Do you think, your eye roll can cut vegetables?” he asked his wife.

“Next time I'm gonna make the onions cry!” Regina exclaimed.

“Nobody takes me serious here!” Bartosz complained over the noise of his giggling parents.

Regina failed at suppressing her laugh and threw her head back.

Aleksander handed her a tissue for her tears.

“Oh boys,” she said teary-eyed, as she caught herself again.

“I am sorry, Bartosz.”

“You are not, Mama.”

“Yes, I am not,” her and Aleksander laughed again.

“You two deserve each other, that's the secret!”

“We do!” Regina threw her hands around Aleksanders neck and kissed him cheerfully.

“I hope you both lose your jobs, because we are really late!” he said and grabbed his school bag.

“Bartosz,” Regina went after him and caught him before he could leave the room.

“Thank you for telling me what Martha told you,” she briefly wrapped her arms tight around his shoulders.

“You made my day,” she told him earnestly.

Bartosz smiled wryly at her and nodded.

“Bye Papa,” he called over his mother's shoulder and waved at his father.

Aleksander returned the gesture.

Since the nightmares had stopped to haunt her,

she had proposed, that Aleksander and her could go on walks through the woods and she grew on liking it.

Sometimes Aleksander would come home earlier or they would agree on a time during their breaks at work and meet each other on some forest glade.

So they slowly wandered off, her hand on the crook of his arm, like the getting older grown ups they pretended to be.

“I have thought for a long time,” Aleksander told her, as they walked through the trees,

“about what you said the other day.”

“Which part?” Regina asked.

“You said, that you're feeling like you're betraying your younger self, when you're in contact with Katharina.”

_Oh this._

Regina drew her lower lip between her teeth and nodded slowly.

“You're stronger, than you give yourself credit for,” Aleksander told her and she felt her cheeks blushing.

“You've always been strong.”

Regina drew in a deep breath.

He noticed her tension and squeezed her hand, which still lay on his arm.

“Your younger self wouldn't want you, to beat yourself up – only because you allow the people, who hurt you in the past, to treat you nicely...”

She kept silent and waited for him to continue.

“If you don't want to, you don't have to become friends with her.

But you should stop pressuring yourself. You can't do anything against the kids relationship

– I mean, we never know what the future holds,” she chuckled and smiled in agreement,

“So just take your time, Regina.”

“What did I do to deserve you and your _intellect_ , Aleksander?”

she gently tugged at his arm to stop him from walking further.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest.

“I'm not sure if you noticed but, I happen to knew your younger self,” he remarked.

“I do remember.”

“I can assure you, she is very happy what an exceptional development herself has done over the last decades.”

Regina leaned back and grimaced, “Did you just called me old?”

Aleksander shook his head.

“The original Regina was already perfect, but sadly she was lacking your sense of humor.

But at least she took me serious the whole time,” he teased her.

“You wish!”

She grinned at him and captured his lips with hers.

Martha came over later in the afternoon to see Bartosz.

But the first thing she did was to greet his mother, who sat in Aleksander's chair in the little office.

She showed Regina an essay she wrote on economics and gender pay gap.

“Would you proofread it for me?” the girl asked with pink flushed cheeks.

Regina skimmed through the pages.

“I don't know, if I am really predestinated for it,” she told Martha insecurely.

“I don't know anyone, who's better at the topic!”

“You do know, that my husband earns the most of the money?” Regina said hesitantly and took off her glasses.

“It's not about money. It's about equality and power and feminism!

It would mean a lot to me to hear your thoughts about my views. Also you own a business, you have a degree –”

“Alright, dear!” Regina laughed, “Of course, I will read it!”

“Thank you, Regina,” Martha bent down and hugged her.

At first Regina was surprised, like always when people showed her affection, but then she relaxed and briefly squeezed her.

“Now off you go!” she told Martha as she let go of her, “We don't want Bartosz to feel neglected again.”

Martha laughed loud at her words and left the room.

Regina swivelled thoughtfully in the chair and looked down at the printed words, without reading them.

Suddenly she was reminded of the week-end a few weeks prior.

When Martha and Bartosz had helped her with the old windows.

'This is amazing!' Martha's life-affirming scream echoed in her mind.

Regina had an idea.

She got up and went downstairs into the kitchen.

She grabbed her phone, which this time, she hadn't buried under the newspapers, but nevertheless left on top of them.

_Would you please help me with something at the hotel?_ she texted _Martha's mom_.

Katharina promptly answered, _no problem I am here if hbic tiedemann needs me_

“Bartosz!” she yelled and went for the staircase.

It took a few moments, but her son appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Mama?”

“What does –” she eyed her phone, “ _hbic_ mean?”

“Head bitch in charge.”

Regina frowned, “Is this an insult?”

“Technically it's more of a compliment,” her son said.

“Sure?”

His eye roll outshone her own.

“Yes, Mama. A special one.”

“Thank you! I'm at the hotel – love you, bye!”

The hotel was still under renovation.

Some rooms, like the lounge, were already finished for the opening since weeks.

But in one of the wings was a room with a not load-bearing wall, which she wanted to break down since the first day of the alterations...

“I want to connect the rooms with one another,”

she explained to Katharina, who skeptically looked at the equipment Regina had hauled up.

“Help me tearing down the wall!” Regina stated enthusiastically.

Katharina raised her eyebrows.

The other woman handed a dust-mask over to her.

“Seriously?”

Regina nodded and put one over her face as well.

“It'll keep you from covering your lungs with –”

“No, I mean _are you serious_?” she pointed at the wall.

“Of course, I am,” Regina took one of the two sledgehammers.

“Besides, you owe me something, I had to open one of my precious wines, because of you,”

she said and drew herself up to her full height.

“You could've shared it with me,” Katharina grinned, but she took the mask and grabbed one of the hammers, as well.

“Wait,” Regina reached out for her arm to stop her,

“Say something, that makes you angry,” she suggested, “Then smash the wall as hard as you can.”

“Fine,” Katharina shrugged her shoulders,

“I am angry, that Ulrich cheated on me,” she struck out and punched a hole into the surface.

“It's your turn, Tiedemann. Share your wild emotions with me.”

Regina was grateful, that the mask hid her smile.

“I am angry, that I sometimes can't believe Aleksander's compliments.”

The hole grew wider.

Katharina shook her head at her, “Would love to deal with your kind of problems...”

She raised her hammer again, “I am angry, that I can't be Hannah's best friend any more!”

A huge crack appeared on the material.

“This is amazing,” Katharina breathed out and Regina heard Martha's tone in her voice.

“Yes!” she agreed.

“I am angry, that my mother vanished,” she smashed the hammer against the wall twice.

“Hell yes!” Katharina cheered for her, “I am angry at my mother, too!”

They both battered against the wall.

For a moment their heavy breathing, their punches and the shattering of the plaster were the only sounds in the room.

Until Regina stopped and said, “I am angry, that you treated me so badly in school.”

She took a deep breath and went on with her hammer.

“I am angry, that I bullied you,” Katharina said and lowered her tool.

She turned to face the other woman.

“I am sorry for what we did to you,” Katharina's voice quavered and this time Regina believed her.

She was back in the woods. Trapped in her nightmare, the familiar fever dream.

The caves in front of her.

She felt her own fear rushing through her body.

She saw the younger Katharina smearing stripes on her cheeks with dark lipstick.

She felt Ulrich's hands on her skin as they tied her to the tree.

Her own screams for help echoed in her ears.

She thought about her mother.

She thought about all the cruelties she had endured as a teenager.

She lingered in all her anger and grabbed the sledge with both hands.

Regina hit and hit and hit, until the whole wall tumbled down in front of her.

She was out of breath and covered in dust.

Katharina looked at her in awe.

The woman illuminated by the shining light from the other room, dust particles flooding around her.

The heavy hammer in one hand, her dress and heels covered in rubble and dirt.

Katharina took a few steps back and left the scenery.

Regina breathed out,

threw the hammer away from her into a corner of the room and let herself down on the floor.

She leaned her head against the wall and pulled at the remains of her bun.

Her auburn hair fell loose on her shoulder.

She closed her eyes.

She heard steps and felt, that Katharina got on her knees in front of her.

She opened her eyes again.

The other woman reached for Regina's face and pulled off her mask.

She opened up a lipstick, which she just had grabbed from her handbag.

Regina looked at her in confusion.

“Trust me,” Katharina said and applied it to Regina's lips.

“You are the one and only warrior queen,” Katharina said.

A single tear rolled over Regina's cheek, she started laughing.

Katharina joined in and sat down next to her – both of them sweaty and exhausted.

“What a mess,” Katharina smiled, admiring the torn wall.

“Beautiful, isn't it?” whispered Regina.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> are we already done with this? I can't believe it either.  
> this chapter is featured by peaches_n_roses, the colour of my colouring picture!  
> I can't wait for you to read this, you already know so many pieces of this puzzle of an end-chapter <3
> 
> Enjoy <3

> And I won't look back, there'll be no regrets
> 
> I'll keep my head up, even if I'm fed up
> 
> 'Cause I'm getting closer, oh, I know, oh, I know
> 
> – Alice Merton, Hit The Ground Running

* * *

_Martha's mom_ had contacted her again.

This time with the help of a _letter to the parents,_ which Bartosz had pinned at the refrigerator door.

She had always hated assemblies at school.

Who came up with the _glorious_ idea of putting all pupils together in one room and torture them with prattle?

Wonderful.

Back then the assemblies had made her - at least - a _little_ bit grateful for her voluminous hair.

While being at school, she used to listen to a lot of music, to mute all the negative feelings the building and the people inside caused her.

She had came up with a way of hiding her headphones under it.

“Don't you dare throw them away!” Bartosz had told her one day,

while he reluctantly helped her with clearing-out old stuff, she wanted to donate.

His suddenly interest in the “It's old enough to be _vintage_ and that's cool”-walkman,

had convinced her to keep the almost antique thing.

Her old mixtapes were securely saved, on a shelf in her and Aleksander's bedroom.

She would _never_ get rid of them.

Katharina Albers no longer represented a real danger to her, but attending a school meeting,

even after all these years, just for the purpose of accompanying her child, still triggered her.

It triggered her up to the point, that she started complaining out loud weeks prior.

Katharina still made those three-minutes-plus audio messages,

Regina still reacted not, but at least she listened to them.

The new room in the hotel was done. Regina had sent her a photo of it.

 _You should've called the room Katharina_ Martha's mother replied.

 _You wish_ Bartosz's mother texted back.

She even considered adding an emoji, but _no_ this was another matter of principles.

They smiled, when they passed each other in the grocery store.

They exchanged polite “Is my kid at your house?” and “What's for dinner at yours?”.

When Regina drove Martha home, she even got out of her car for a few minutes awkwardish small-talk.

As frequently as she wore the purple nail polish, she also wore the deep red lipstick.

But all those situation didn't mean, they were friends, no.

They behaved like friends would, but no, they were not.

_Or were they?_

Be that as it may, Regina didn't bothered to feel _excited_ about a school assembly, were a person, who was her _non-friend_

(or whatever she should name their relationship at this point) held a presentation about _whatever_.

“Just don't go, Regina,” Aleksander told her.

He leaned against the kitchen counter, while she stood in front of the fridge.

Her arms crossed and her eyes gleaming mean at the piece of paper, as if it was to held accountable for all the trouble in her life.

“I can't – or are you available?” she hissed at him.

Stuffing his hands in the pocket of his trousers, he shook his head.

“See!” she exclaimed, throwing the ingredients for the meal, they were about to cook on the worktop.

“You know, I would if I could,” he said in earnest.

His sad tone caused Regina to move towards him, “Yes, I do, Aleksander.”

She put his face in her hands and her thumbs caressed his cheeks affectionately.

“It's not your fault,” she said in a much friendlier tone. _He doesn't deserve my harshness_.

“But stop, I am trying _for_ _once_ to be angry at you!”

“For once,” he repeated chuckling and drew quotations marks with his fingers in the air, right before he leaned in to kiss her.

“I am staying in the passenger seat!” Bartosz insisted,

while his mother pulled her car into the driveway of the Nielsen's.

_Would you take my kids with you to the assembly?_ Katharina had asked her.

 _p l e a s e ?_ she had added seconds later.

But Regina had already typed _Ofc, I am always here, if hbic nielsen needs my help._

“Is this your car?” Mikkel asked quizzically, while he stood in front of Regina's silvery AMG.

“No,” she replied in a serious tone. She lowered her sunglasses, “I stole it.”

The boy's eyes grew big.

“Idiot,” Magnus hit his little brother against the back of his head, “Of course, it's hers!”

Regina flinched at the gesture and smiled apologising at Mikkel.

The boy looked not very convinced, as if he was doubting, that the woman in front of him was telling a lie.

Magnus high-fived Bartosz to greet him.

“Thanks for the ride, Frau Tiedemann,” Magnus nodded at her.

“Sure,” she replied. Likewise fascinated and scared about how much he equally resembled the teenage versions of his parents.

“Regina!” Martha was the last one to leave the house.

The girl ran over to her and engulfed her in one of her glomping hugs, “Thank you so much for your mail!”

Regina lightly patted her back, “Your essay is impressive.”

In the corner of her eye, she witnessed how Bartosz rolled his eyes at them.

Over Martha's shoulder she warningly raised her brows at him.

Her son shrugged with his shoulders and stuffed his hands into his pockets, like his father had done the evening before.

_Who was copying from the other here?_

She had no idea any more, since both resembled the other in their behaviour, way too often.

“Be proud of yourself, dear,” she winked at Martha, after the girl had let go of her and Martha's face lighten up, a slight blush formed on her cheeks.

“Okay, are we ready?” Regina tried to smile, but suddenly, she felt very tense again.

Bartosz who held the door open for Martha, looked wonderingly at his mother.

Regina got inside her car and took a deep breath.

“It has 400 hp,” Mikkel whispered in awe from the back.

“435,” Regina corrected him and she saw in her rear-vision-mirror, how Mikkel stared a her with his mouth agape.

She couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction.

Was she actually driving the children of Ulrich and Katharina Nielsen around?

For a moment her thoughts lingered... _W_ _hat if_?

 _What if_ the results of the paternity test had actually been positive? She and Ulrich would share a father.

Would she be considered as a kind of aunt by the three Nielsen's spawns, in the back of her car?

_Aunt Regina? Auntie Gina? Ugh, no. Only Regina._

What sort of relationship would she and her sister-in-law have?

Would her life have been different?

Would Jana talk to her? Would Jana act like a kind of stepmother to her?

And what about Martha's and Bartosz's relationship?

They would be cousins... sort of half... but still...

Hopefully not – Tiedemann and Nielsen; the combination of both families had never brought any good in the past.

She thought about her mother.

What if her _what-if_ -father had decided for her mother, instead of the grandmother of the children, in the back seats...

In another world, maybe she wouldn't have left.

If Claudia ever had have a choice...

_Now is not the right time to fall into this rabbit hole of what-if-scenarios,_ she reminded herself.

She needed to concentrate on the road in front of her.

She was responsible for the four children in her car,

especially since three of them were not her own.

As she parked and got out of the car, she felt as if she suddenly had become part of a huge family.

Four children... more than one child – another _what if_.

Decades had passed, since she had to walk through the school corridors on a daily basis.

Her shoulders tugged under her ears, her tongue pressed against the roof of her mouth,

her teeth gritted, her eyes downcast.

In oversized sweaters, to hid her body inside of them, the long sleeves tugged over her reddened wrists.

Now she put one foot in front of the other.

Tried to relax her shoulders by rolling them back.

Over was the time of her glasses, her hair didn't hid her face any longer.

She was taller, than her teenage-self.

Her tight coat and her boots with heels – what would the younger version of herself say, when they could met?

Would she proud of herself? Would she feel relief at the perspective of change?

_I can assure you, she is very happy what an exceptional development herself has done over the last decades._

Aleksander's voice came to her mind.

Actually she would love to travel back in time, right into the scenery of the hell of her youth.

She would straight walk up to herself and hug her.

Young Regina would flinch and tense up, because she never received many hugs to get used to the feeling.

_How to put my arms around myself?_

Regina would stroke the curls out of her own eyes.

_Don't stress getting rid of them._

_Stop pulling your stomach in – You'll only get a bellyache from it, it's not worth it._

_Don't pressure yourself so much. The world is already harsh enough. No need to add to that._ _Leave that to your mother._

_Breathe deeper, you don't have to smile. You got this!_

_Soon everything will change._

_You will meet him._

_At first you will think, that you have to change for him, but you'll learn very quickly, that you don't have to._

_You will find out, that he thinks of you as beautiful, no matter if you comb your hair or not;_

_that he looks at you the same admiring way, no matter if you wear a sweater or a dress._

_The first time he tells you, that he loves you, you won't believe him._

_The second and third time, you will still doubt reality and think of it as a dream..._

_but after a while, probably when he told you “I love you” for the hundredth time_

– _yes, he will stay around and with you and he will say it over and over again and mean it! –_

_you will know, that he's serious. You'll start believing it._

_And from this moment on, all the changes you wish for, are just for yourself, not for anyone else._

_At someday you'll wake up in the morning and smile at your reflection in the mirror_

– _yes, smiling, because you feel good about yourself and him and your life._

_Someday they'll move out of the way, when you walk past them – not the other way around._

_The roll of your eyes will be too sharp to handle and you'll drive a damn fancy car._

_Soon, Regina, soon._

_But until then, everything here is hell._

_At some moments, when you are already a grown-up woman, there will be days when it's still hell_

_– no matter the outfit nor the attitude, but you are walking right through it, because it's you._

_You are already enough, you just need some time to realise this._

_Take your time and survive._

_Soon, Regina, soon._

The sports hall still provided as an assembly hall.

Piled up with chairs, which – even decades later – still were the ones, she had used to sit on.

Was there even a room in the whole building, which underwent modifications, since she had made her a-levels?

She really didn't like any other parents. Except for Charlotte.

She considered Charlotte Doppler as _cool_ , even somehow a _friend_.

Both had been witnesses to their marriages and Charlotte even was Bartosz's godmother.

School or church events to attend, they sat down next to another.

Last row, far away from the others.

Not the very talkative ones, not very affectionate with another

– but Charlotte always had known, that she could rely on Regina to stand in picking up Franziska or Elisabeth from kindergarten,

when she or Peter couldn't leave from work.

A cup of coffee every three months, exchanging cards for birthdays and Christmas.

But sadly, for the most times, Charlotte didn't attended to parents' evenings.

It was Peter, who represented them, because she still worked during these happenings.

And there he was, sitting in one of the front rows.

He nodded friendly at her, the corner of her mouth twitched up into a brief smile.

She just didn't wanted to wave, her arms felt heavy.

Regina went for the last row, she hadn't expected for Bartosz to stay with her,

so she was surprised as she overheard him telling Martha, “Save me a seat, would you? I'll be right there.”

Martha nodded and Regina turned her head in order to not stare at them, while they kissed.

 _Thank god, they aren't cousins,_ the thought flashed through her mind.

“What is it?” she asked, as her son let himself fall on the seat next to her.

“Ach Mama,” he sighed and raised his arm, like in an attempt to put an arm around her shoulder,

but instead he snatched the clip, which hold her hair together.

It fell out of her accurately tied bun and the cascading waves sprawled all over her shoulders and back.

“What the –” she interrupted herself. _No swearing in public._

“Bartosz, why?” she angrily tried to snap the hair clip out of his hands.

With her other hand she attempted to comb her hair back together with her fingers.

Bartosz took her wrist and stopped her from doing so.

He grinned at her.

“Here,” he placed the hair clip in the palm of her hand.

Then blazingly fast, he put one of his AirPods into her ear.

“Relax,” he said and got up.

Regina grabbed his arm, “What are you up to?”

This time Bartosz shook her head at her, “Just listen,” he winked at her and she let go of him.

He went over to Martha and she adjusted her hair over her shoulder, so the ear bud wasn't visible any longer.

_How thoughtful, Bartosz._

A few moments later music started flooding into her ears.

She looked at him, he turned into her direction, “Loud enough?” he mouthed over to her.

She nodded and made a slight gesture of approval with her hand.

She crossed her legs, took out one of her pocket calenders and placed it on her knee.

In her ear a man rapped in german about _cars_? – about her car – _am I cool now_? she asked herself.

Mikkel seemed to think so.

Still unsure what to think about the music playing out of Bartosz's AirPods, she opened the cap of her pen.

She wanted to write down the keynote of this meeting, but she realised, that she had no clue, why she was even here.

The song was over, the next one was harsher. Insult over insult, somehow the shameless vulgarity made her smile.

She scribbled some of the words on the edge of the page.

She drew a tic-tac-toe field and won against herself.

She wrote _Aleksander_ in bold letters, drew a heart next to it, but immediately scribbled it out.

 _I am not_ that _romantic._

Her feet bobbed up and down to the music.

Someone dropped down next to her.

She flinched and closed her artistic rude notes.

“Peter is over there,” she told Charlotte and pointed into his direction.

“As if I am sitting in the front row,” the woman got out of her jacket, “The very idea, imagine the nerve – can I stay next to you?”

“Of course,” she smiled.

“It's nice to see you, Regina,” Charlotte said.

A man in the seat in front of them, turned around.

“Shhht!” he hissed at the women.

Over the beat of the next rap song in her ear, Regina rolled her eyes at him, then she leaned forward,

“Try me!” she snarled and flashed her teeth at him.

Charlotte giggled and the guy turned his head back.

“For a moment there, I thought you would spit in his face,” Charlotte nudged her elbow into Regina's side.

She shrugged her shoulder's, “Just a tad away from snapping.”

Charlotte winked at her, “Oh, why didn't you? For real, I am off-duty.”

Regina smiled and shook her head,

“Not sure, if Aleksander would be amused getting me out of jail, only because I started a fight at a school assembly,” she whispered.

“He would turn up with a whole entourage, I bet he would be proud,” Charlotte replied, still giggling.

“Of course, he would,” Regina smiled dreamily and redrew the heart next to his name.

Over 25 years of marriage – he deserved the heart.

With her thumb she caressed over the rose quartz, she was wearing on her left middle finger.

The ring had been Aleksander's wedding anniversary gift in 2018 for her.

 _Are you up for another 25 years?_ said the card, he had given to her.

 _Because I am._ he had written a few blank spaces under it.*

Her heart still leapt at the mere thought of it.

She blinked the tears of emotion away and asked, “Were you working late?”

Charlotte nodded.

“Exhausting, I tell you. How's the hotel?”

“Exhausting, I tell you,” Regina repeated, “Come over if you have time, I'll give you a tour.”

“I'd love to!”

They went silent again.

Regina leaned back, a slower song about drug-use made her smile.

What kind of music was Bartosz listen to actually? She suppressed her laugh.

She opened the page of her calender again.

A new song came up.

Calmer than the others, but still upbeat.

She concentrated on the lyrics.

_last winter was the coldest and you know you still important_

She wrote down the lines under Aleksander's name and the scribbled heart.

_I don't wanna go, uh_

She wrote it in caps, as a headline over her messed up notes.

_I wanna go back shoppin', real friends and fuck the enemies_

she smiled, maybe her son's taste in music wasn't that far away from hers.

“Are you into poetry?” Charlotte asked. She peered at the words, which Regina had written down.

Regina looked at her _artwork_.

“Don't know, probably this is just a bad mother's bullet journal.”

“So you're not listening to Katharina either, very good,” Charlotte sighed pleased,

“Gonna ask Peter. He always takes notes – I'll sent them over to you later.”

“Thanks Charlotte.”

“Of course, last-row-squad.”

“Old times.”

“Old times, Regina.”

“Thank you for driving the gang!” Katharina approached her, after the assembly was over.

Regina nodded with a slight smile, “That was no problem, really.”

“Tell me, what do you think about the whole matter?” Katharina lowered her voice.

Regina raised her eyebrows in confusion.

Katharina pointed at the projected presentation, which was still visible at the wall behind her.

“Oh, that,” Regina lifted her hair on her other shoulder and revealed the white little piece, which was still hanging out of her ear.

At first Katharina looked stunned, but then she laughed,

“Good move, Tiedemann. Some things never change.”

“That's true,” Regina replied.

“Okay, I have to go – how about coffee tomorrow?” Katharina asked.

Regina hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded in agreement,

“Can you get us to-go's in the hotel again? I have so much to do and a break is always nice.”

“As long, as you don't force me to trash down another one of your walls.”

Bartosz accompanied her to her car, “I go over to Martha's, I'm coming home later.”

His mother nodded. Bartosz was about to go as Regina reached out for his arm again.

“Bartosz,” she said.

“Mama?”

“Lately, you have been telling us, that you're happy, that we're your parents,” she started.

He nodded.

“I am very happy, you're my son,” she extended her hand and put the AirPod into his palm.

He stood there motionless, at first she wasn't sure if he even had listen to her.

Then a huge grin spread across his face,

“Okay, I grant you _one_ hug in public,” Bartosz told her.

“What a relief!” Regina laughed and they shared a fleeting, but tight hug.

It always amazed her, that her once so little son, now had a few inches on her, even in her heels.

Once she had been able to carry him around on her hip or her back.

Images of Aleksander and him fooling around in the garden flashed through her mind.

He always used to carry him on or over his shoulders.

“What do you think? Will he grow even more?” she had asked her husband, one morning in early spring, last year.

“I give him till the end of the summer, than he will overtake me.”

They had stood in the doorway of his home office.

The door frame was the only piece of surface in the house, where Regina ever had allowed to write on.

_Papa._

_Mama_.

In Bartosz scrawly childhood handwriting, almost next to Aleksander's height-measurement-line, _Mama with shoes._

She remembered the moment, Aleksander had lifted him up and little Bartosz had draw the line above Regina's head.

“It's important to know!” Bartosz had exclaimed.

And she had stood there, already in her sleepwear, with her pumps on,

because Bartosz had insisted on getting out of bed, to ran into the hallway to complete their family's height chart with this entry.

And all over the frame, countless lines with Bartosz's name and ages.

“He grew so fast,” she whispered and stroked over the fainting letters.

Her eyes lingered on the lines, between his fourth and sixth year of age.

Back then he had been so little, that his arms only reached her upper legs or later her hips.

He had always pressed his head into her belly.

For every hug, she kneeled down, making sure to show him the affection, support and love she felt for her child.

“Will I be able to do this?” had she asked herself in the early months of her pregnancy.

“Am I even able to be a _good_ mother, even if mine was such a bad one?”

Her biggest fear had been to just neglect her child, like her mother had done with her.

_Maybe it's in my blood?  
_

But right from the moment, she had felt the first movements of the little growing life inside of her,

she had known, that she was capable of so much more, than she gave herself credit for.

“We are good at making things last,” Aleksander put his hands on her shoulders,

she leaned against him, his fingers caressed her collarbones.

“Do you think so?” she asked, doubt in her voice.

“I know.”

“Our _little_ boy” she pointed at the last line, written on the surface only a day before.

She had to raise herself on her tiptoes, to drew the line above Bartosz head.

Aleksander had making fun of her, saying that now she was the one, who had to be lifted up...

Now she and her _little boy_ stood there in the parking lot of the school.

“Your father and I are very grateful for you,” she said.

“What a relief,” Bartosz echoed her words, as they let go of the other.

“Have a good time with Martha,” she opened the door of her car.

“Have a good time with Papa,” he waved at her and left.

A few meters away from her, he turned around again,

“By the way,” he yelled over to her, “Martha said, you looked good with your hair down!”

Aleksander and her came home at the same time.

“What a rare occasion,” Regina greeted him, as she got out of her car.

“You mean your beautiful hair down, outside the house?” Aleksander grinned at her,

admiring the blush his comment caused on his wife's face and held out his hand for her to take it.

They walked side by side and as Aleksander locked up the door, he asked, “How'd it go?”

“The music was good,” she laughed about the irritation on his face.

“You and Bartosz share _good, solid_ _conversations_ and well, with me he shares his earphones.”

“I'm gonna ask him tomorrow, what all your cryptic hints mean,” he pecked her lips, while they both hung up their coats.

“How about you telling me something about your day?” she proposed and tapped with her index finger on his chest.

“Really?”

“Of course!” she emphasized her wish, "You always listen to me, tonight it's your turn – share your emotions with me!”

He wrapped his arms around her waist, “Do you have one of your hammers?” he held her in a tight embrace.

“Come by the hotel,” she said, her lips only a few inches away from his.

“Unfortunately, I am very busy,” he whispered.

She raised her eyebrows, “Too sad, I am so helpless without your metal-worker-skills,” she fake-pouted.

Aleksander quietly laughed .

“You are way too far from being helpless, Regina,” he bowed her head and she felt his lips on her neck.

“Let me tell you a secret,” Regina said, while she stroked through his hair and he pressed his mouth on the spot,

where he could feel her pulse under her skin, “I'm listening,” he replied slightly muffled.

“I can be kissed and talked to, no need to distract me,” she told him.

He left one last kiss on her cheek and then let go of her.

“It's not, that I don't want to tell you,” he shrugged his shoulders “but it's stresses me out so badly.”

“What happened?” she gently grabbed his upper arm, trying to look into his eyes.

“It's actually not work...” he suddenly looked very exhausted. She hold her breath.

“It's Hannah Kahnwald,” he admitted.

“Hannah?” Regina repeated, raising her eyebrows.

“Yes, it's her whole – what kind of word is Bartosz using lately? – _vibe._ ”

“I get what you mean,”

He smiled, “I know, you do.”

He sighed and both headed for the kitchen.

“But there's more... well, actually it's kind of... strange –” they both leaned against the counter.

Her shoulder touched his, she put her hand on his back and caressed it lightly.

“One of my employees told me, that there are rumours about Hannah having several affairs...

with a majority of Winden's married men, other than –”

“Aleksander,” his wife interrupted him, “Are you even _working_ at work?”

Regina looked at him with wide eyes,

“In what kind of workspace-situation, are you coming up with conversations about Hannah Kahnwald's affairs?”

she was almost bewildered. She turned so she could face him,

“By the way, that sounds very mean! _Several_ , _majority_ – this is _so_ anti-feminist,” she threw her hands up in the air,

“Wait, Martha was using a term in her essay – _slutshaming!_ ” she exclaimed, Aleksander nodded.

“I still don't know what to think about Hannah but, no she deserves better than this cruel gossip!” Regina said and crossed her arms.

“Regina, guess who's on top of the list,” she noticed the solemn tone in his voice.

Her mouth fell open and she put a hand on her chest in a dramatic gesture,

“ _My_ faithful husband,” she said with playful and false indignation, “Katharina and I have so much in common!”

He smiled and put a hand over his eyes.

“Oh Aleksander,” Regina moved closer to him.

She wrapped her arms around his torso.

“If you have an affair with Hannah,” she lifted the right corner of her mouth into one of her smirks, Aleksander looked at her in anticipation.

Noticing the mean gleam in her eyes, “Then I am having one with Ulrich.”

She enjoyed the brief moment of shock on his face, then he threw his head back and laughed with all his heart.

“You wonderful woman,” he said as he put his hands on the sides of her face and tilted her chin to kiss her lips.

“I need detox,” he sighed,

“For seven weeks,” she added and tightened her hold around him.

“Even more,” Aleksander closed his eyes and put his cheek against her head.

“Next wall to trash down is yours, I promise,” Regina patted her hand on his chest.

“I don't deserve you,” he put his hand above hers.

“Remember what our tall-grown son said, _we_ _deserve each other_.”

Later that night as they went to bed, Regina's thoughts circled around Katharina and Hannah...

As soon as the lights were off, she came up with an idea.

“You are my favourite husband,” she whispered to Aleksander through the darkness.

She was very convinced the plan, she had came up with, would succeed.

He shifted under their shared cover and moved closer to her,

“For the last decades, I always hoped to be your _only_ husband, but I guess, I am okay with being the _favourite_ one.”

“Do you ever take me serious?” she tugged at the blanket.

“If you do take _me_ serious,” he reached for her and pulled her closer to him.

“Never,” she said between giggles, because his hands had tickled her sides again.

“Then it's a _never,_ my darling.”

In the shadows, she put a finger on his mouth, “Don't you dare, Aleksander, say my name.”

“Reginaaa,” he replied, his lips touching her skin.

She rolled her eyes at him, even tho he actually wasn't able to see it.

“Let me tell you a secret,” he whispered in her hair,

“Yes?”

“I am able to _hear_ your eye-roll movements,” he said dryly.

She sighed, “I go to sleep,” she rested her head against his chest.

“Take me with you,” Aleksander yawned, as he comfortably encircled her body with his arms.

“I'm first choice – always,“ Regina said and Hannah's eyebrows were raised so high, they almost vanished under her fringe.

“Excuse me, why are you here?”

Regina stood in the hallway of Hannah's house.

“I'm never seconded,” Regina continued, not bothering answering Hannah's question,

“I know, Katharina misses you.”

“Did she send you?” Hannah crossed her arms.

“Do you ever think, Hannah?”

Hannah looked very offended,

“Regina Tiedemann, what have you got to do with it anyway? Why does it even bother you, if Katharina and I are talking to another?”

“I want to be left alone! I need space and I don't need best friends, who used to bully me in school!”

“Okay, I get it, stop yelling,” Hannah raised her hand, her face still tense.

“I'm fine with being nice to one another,” Regina explained a little more calmly,

“I'll try and be a kind-of-friend for her. But she needs someone at her side.

Someone with whom she can go out and party, who's texting her back, who's listening to her voice messages–”

“I really miss those audio's,” Hannah said sadly.

“I can make you a lot of mixtapes with the ones she sent me, over the last three weeks,”

Regina rolled her eyes at Hannah impatiently, “See, she needs you! Listen to me, I have sort of a plan.”

A few hours later, she waited in front of her receptionist desk.

She wasn't even nervous.

_I know, everything will be okay._

She heard the opening of the door and immediately walked towards Katharina.

“Hey,” she greeted Regina.

“Hello,” Regina said with a bright and lavish smile.

“What the hell, Tiedemann – what happened to your face?”

Katharina asked disgustedly, “You are basically glowing!”

Regina laughed, “I am in such a good mood today,” she took one of the coffees out of Katharina's hands,

linked her arm with hers and pulled her into the freshly renovated salon.

“I knew, your smile would be the warning sign for a trap,” Katharina said dryly, as she spotted Hannah, who was sitting in one of the armchairs.

Regina ignored Katharina's remark and went over to press the coffee into Hannah's hand.

Then she went for the door and turned around,

“I brought you two here for a reason. The both of you – TALK. Now. There are always two sides. Bye.”

She left the room and told her employees to lock up behind the two women.

Whatever the outcome of this conversation situation was, she didn't care.

She did her part. The rest was in Katharina's and Hannah's hands.

Regina drove home.

“Hey, are you deaf?” Bartosz asked, as he went into the living room.

Aleksander and her were snuggled up together on the couch.

The TV was on, but none of them was really paying attention.

His parents looked at him

“Martha's mom just called _me_ , to tell you to look at your phone, Mama!”

“What?” Regina sat up and stroked her hair out of her face.

“It's a relief, you stopped hiding it under the newspapers, but you should keep it in earshot,”

Bartosz handed her phone over to her.

Regina smiled at him, “Thank you, my favourite son.”

“I am your only son,” he muttered and sunk down next to his father.

“You know, Bartosz – I had a similar conversation with your mother-dear yesterday.

This seems to be her new way of telling us, how much we actually mean to her.”

Regina got up and looked through the notifications.

Two messages, one from _Martha's mom_ and another message from an unknown number,

which had added her into a groupchat... named „ _winderwomen“_

 _Oh god no_ , she cringed.

She clicked on Katharina's one first,

_I owe you a coffee, one which you won't have to share with Hannah. Thanks for saving me again._

Regina couldn't help, but smile. So her plan had succeeded.

She clicked on the groupchat.

Martha's mom and another number – it was Hannah's.

And she just had sent a picture.

It was a selfie of Katharina and Hannah.

Their heads together, they smiled with wine glasses into the camera.

 _Regina, come over!_ Katharina had typed.

 _We will treat you a drink!_ Hannah had messaged.

 _Next time :)_ Regina replied and smiled, until the grey checkmarks turned blue.

She closed the app and put her phone down.

Aleksander and Bartosz looked at her in expectation.

“I fixed something today,” she said proudly.

“What is it between you and Martha's mom?” Bartosz asked again.

“Oh, I think, to her I am someone, who brought her and her best friend back together,” Regina smiled.

“So you are a matchmaker?” her son raised his eyebrows at her.

Regina laughed and took her wine glass to take a sip.

Bartosz stretched and yawned.

“Love you, guys,” he said.

Regina choked on her wine, Aleksander reached for her glass to take it out of her hand.

“Hell yeah, Aleksander,” she said teary-eyed from coughing, “Let me die, as long as the carpet stays stain-free.”

He blew a kiss over to her.

“Bartosz, did something happen?” Aleksander asked, “Do you need money or a lawyer?”

“Nope, for real,” Bartosz shrugged his shoulders, “I just mean it.”

ENDE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *the card content, as well as the whole Regina-rose-stone-ring-situation is from peaches_n_roses' genius mind <3 Please give her kudos for her inspiration & ideas!
> 
> That's it. My first sequel!! If you have the time, let me know what you think about the ending :)  
> I had a really good time writing all those chapters.  
> Thanks for all your support & kudos & shared thoughts <3
> 
> the lines Regina scribbles down from the song, she listens to are from “sniffing vicodin in paris” by blackbear.
> 
> again credits to peaches_n_roses, thank you for introducing me to this song & giving me the soundtrack for the whole Regina-listens-to-Bartosz's-playlist scene <3 only written because of & for you, dear.  
> plus, thank you so much for that evening in october, when you researched on the Tiedemann cars, I just scrolled back to find the ps-data <3
> 
> lots of love,  
> see you on the next story <3

**Author's Note:**

> I'll update soon :) would love to read your thoughts. Lots of love <3


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